To Honor Him

April 1, 2017

Day 91: A Tale of Two Brothers:
"The human spirit can endure a sick body, but who can bear a crushed spirit?" —Proverbs 18:14

Although Anderson's lesson for today was poignant and worthy of consideration, I had something else on my mind. When I was drying my hair after my shower this morning I was thinking about how amazing it is to be alive and how I really should make the most of every moment I get on this earth. Then I thought about how we as Christians are told to focus on heaven, to seek things above, to eagerly await the coming of Christ, to look forward to our great reward in heaven. We are encouraged to not revel in life on earth, but to pine for another time and place that we can't even possibly imagine. Scripture after scripture: Colossians 3:1-2 "...Keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth;" Matthew 6:33 "...seek first His kingdom...;" Philippians 3:20 "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." And there are more, not to mention hymns and songs. Why should we not enjoy and deeply appreciate our life on earth? Why should we be made to feel that somehow doing so is sinful? I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is something not quite right about that. Why would God put us here if we should always be desiring to be elsewhere?

As a member of the PVCC I remember feeling the weight of the scriptures "seek things above," "eagerly wait...," "our citizenship is in heaven..." Putting God first above everyone and everything based on someone else's interpretation of what that means and what that looks like, was crushing my spirit. It was supposed to be uplifting and freeing, but instead I felt enslaved to an ideal that I knew I could never live up to. I don't believe that is what God had in mind. I think that God wants us to appreciate our time on earth, to revel in the beauty of nature, to love people, to seek Him and learn His ways, and to honor Him by doing so.